Snow Falling in the Algid North
by TsukinoSora
Summary: Underneath the powdery white snow is a land blackened by sin. The alchemists have found that one of their own is the culprit, but how far can they go? What is the difference between punishment and protection? This will test them all. AU, canon pairings. O
1. 001 Prologue

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**_Snow Falling in the Algid North: _Algerime**  
[ Day Zero; Nine Fifty-Nine PM ]

**- PROLOGUE -**

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_Night fell on the modest town hours ago, but it makes no matter to the light present on the ground. The soft glow comes from rows of humble cottages - quaint, but not ramshackle things lined up in circles. Coloured lights twinkle from within the dwellings, flickering like candles on the powder-covered earth. Snow sparkles in their little luminescence, glistening in warmth through all the cold the wind may bring. The moon shines bright in the sky, although clouds gather._

_Inhabitants finished their nighttime routines long ago; they sleep peacefully as the mountains shelter them from storm. Their homes are like little gingerbread houses- their shadows are small. The dreamy, snowy town is picturesque, sandwiched between whitened pine trees and an array of ice-covered peaks. The wind chimes through the frosty village; tiny notes emitting from every home's hanging bells. A soft snow begins to fall from the clouds swept in by the gentle breeze. It pitter patters on the ice already on the ground, quiet but not silent. The wind rushes through the trees of the frosty village._

_Sadly, it is not to last._

_Suddenly a deep, throbbing sound reverberates through the town. Buildings shake before combustion; flames erupt from every surface, fire shooting across the landscape as if fueled by the snow itself. Everything burns. The bell tower from the town's dual church and town hall crashes on the ground, the bell epitomizing the terror of the scene. It blazes with intensity far greater than the lights previously coming from the once beautiful homes. They are no more._

_As the town turns to ashes, an alchemist turns away from the tragic scene and walks off into the forest, leaving footprints behind._

_By morning, they will have disappeared in the snow._

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/end prologue

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**word count:** 288  
**setting:** You'll see.

Keep going.


	2. 002 Algerime

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**_Snow Falling in the Algid North - _Central**  
[Day 001; Ten fourteen AM]

**- ALGERIME -**

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"Completely destroyed?" said the man in the blue uniform. His hair was as black as his boots, which were firmly planted on the ground in surprise. His hands sat neatly folded into each other on his desk. His eyes were wide.

"Desecrated. There were no survivors." The blonde sentry stood ready, trying to calm his nerves. This position, although small and somewhat unimportant, had him nervous. Or rather, the famous alchemist sitting across from him had him nervous. Lt. Colonel Mustang had questions, and he had no answers. He was just as perplexed as the man he was facing.

"…How big was this town, Beberi? I've never even heard of it before."

"Tiny. It used to be part of Algraupel, but broke off centuries ago."

"Yeah. Noooooooooooot interested…" said the second lieutenant sitting a few feet from the conversing men. He tossed a beanbag ball into the air repeatedly, masticating on the unlit cigarette in his mouth. "How many people died, like, fifteen?" he said, nonchalantly putting his feet up on his desk.

"Eighteen. Hundred." The messenger replied. If he were in a higher position, he would have rolled his eyes at Jean Havoc. Clearly _someone_ didn't want to come to work today…

"Two thousand people is a lot to kill in a single night, Havoc." Mustang said, while still gazing sharply at Beberi the sentry. A pause from the following silence entered the room. Beberi exhaled and looked up, begging sweat not to form on his forehead. He had given Mustang the papers, what more was there he could say that the Lt. Colonel couldn't read for himself? He'd never even heard of this… this village. What good was it for him to stand there any longer?

"How?" Mustang continued. (He was a man of many words.)

Beberi swallowed and looked away. "There should be… sufficient information in the report generated for you, Lt. Colonel –"

"Or should I have perhaps asked, why are you telling _me_ this, Beberi?"

The constant use of his name had the sentry mortified.

"That's… why I ca- why I was sent, sir. The town was destroyed in fire."

"So?" Havoc responded. Apparently some of this was still interesting to him.

"…With alchemy." Beberi finished.

Mustang's mouth opened slightly, his tongue hardening against the back of his teeth. "Huh…" he muttered. His eyes narrowed. Havoc slowly took his feet off his desk, placing his beanbag ball on it instead. He rearranged his legs so that his elbows sat upon them, his hands clasped like Mustang's. Now his eyes bore into the sentry as well. _Oh no…_ Beberi thought. This was terrible.

"'Graupel, huh?" Mustang began. "That's a fairly large city, considering the location. Why did this town break off from it?"

"They probably don't even have electricity, if it really was so long ago…" Havoc added.

"They do not." Beberi replied. "I was not adequately briefed on its history… I'm informed that the few buildings in town would have been excellent at sustaining the fire, although it had burned out by the time officials reached the scene. The residents reported a large explosion ripping through the town before erupting into flames… the bell tower was one of the only remaining structures, perhaps because it was so tall…"

"I thought you said there weren't any survivors?" Mustang asked, a small smile forming at the corner of his mouth. Beberi's anxiety was somewhat amusing. Poor new guy.

"…There… Not anymore. They died in the hospital a few hours after being found."

"How many?"

"Two. Well, three. One was an infant and couldn't give testimony to the events of the destruction." Beberi wiped sweat from his brow. Damn it all.

"Geez man, calm down." Havoc said. Beberi looked like he was about to run away screaming or something. Mustang came close to chuckling.

"Your eloquence is unnecessary, Beberi. We all know the baby couldn't say anything. And you didn't really answer my question pertaining to the reason for the town's divorce from Al Graupel."

"I…"

"Oh yes, you were not adequately briefed on its history, I remember." He resumed, finally taking the papers that had been left on his desk by the sentry in question, shuffling them without much purpose. "Is that to say that your supervising officers are inadequate?"

"Hell yes, Norm Reeves doesn't do shit." Havoc interjected. Mustang ignored him.

"Heh heh…" Beberi laughed awkwardly. The Second Lieutenant's unprofessional behaviour was astounding, although slightly more comforting than the Colonel's stiff… stiffness.

Mustang continued. "Disregarding the accuracy of this strange man's statements, you can return to your commanding officer, Beberi –

"Strange? Excuse me?"

"Thank you for your time and efficiency in reporting this matter. You are dismissed." Mustang smiled. "And lighten up. I'm not going to eat you."

"_Today_." Havoc added. Roy had given up disciplining Jean when he was in one of his 'moods' a long time ago.

"Tha- thank you, sir. Good day." Beberi said as he departed, dropping his gloves in the process. Havoc stood up to close the door behind him.

"This report said the smoke could be seen for miles." The flame alchemist stated, grazing the documents in front of him. "Al-ger-ime? Aljereem? I don't know how to say it either. No wonder Beberi was confused," he pondered aloud.

"Sir…" Havoc started, sobering a bit. His hand was still on the doorknob. "What alchemist has the power to destroy an entire town in one night?"

Roy sighed. He could think of a few.

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Edward Elric didn't even move the locks from his long, blonde hair out of the way as he shoved a sandwich into his mouth. Innocent bystanders would have thought he hadn't eaten in years – or perhaps have been even a little grossed out – but the giant suit of armour next to him knew better. Alphonse sighed. He missed stuffing exorbitant amounts of food into himself.

Glancing up, he saw none other than the Lt. Colonel approaching them. So that's why Ed brought them here so begrudgingly…

"Brother, your secret lover is here." Al said. "Wha?" Ed responded, mouth still full of pastrami and rye. Then he saw the Colonel.

Ed almost spit out his food.

"Nice to see you too, Elric." Mustang said, bemused. He secretly congratulated himself. How predictable. Edward loved the food from this sunny little market too much to stay away, and Mustang knew it. He always came here when he returned to Central, making it convenient for Mustang to barge in on his snacking excursions any time he wanted. Silly Elric.

"Whai ah yuu hur?" Ed said, trying not to choke. Al would so pay for that later.

"Hello Colonel Mustang, how are you?" Al said, possibly in a lame attempt to translate. Roy knew better.

"I need you. Now."

"I knew it!" Al chimed exuberantly.

"Oh be quiet." Ed said. "Damnit, what now? We just got back from dealing with some weirdo – "

Mustang tossed the papers in front of the sulking shrimp. "What's this?" Ed said, finally taking time to swallow. He scanned the page. "Drachma? Oh no. Please not Drachma."

"Yes, Drachma. Get your coat and gloves. I've been assigned quite the interesting endeavour here. You're coming along."

"Why, sir?" Alphonse responded. What did this have to do with anything?

"You'll see." Mustang responded stoically as Edward pushed copious amounts of sustenance in his face. Edward and Al stared blankly. Roy was seriously lacking an explanation here, although it was intriguing. Maybe he was finally losing it since Hawkeye was gone. Edward's extremely loud chewing was starting to agitate the Lt. Colonel. "Read the report. We're investigating Algerime." They continued to stare.

"Algerime?" Al repeated, trying to look away from Ed. Pieces of tomato were falling from his sandwich - his fifth sandwich, at this point - on the ground. Oh Edward.

"… Wheh vuh fuck ish dat?"

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The clip bounced off the hard wood surface, its owner too tired to pick it up. She shook her golden hair softly, waiting for it to fall past her shoulders. This assignment was gruelingly boring and she was ready to go back to Central. She didn't quite understand why she and only some of Mustang's men had been sent here in the first place; probably some trick by the superiors to split them up. Did every one suspect them?

Sitting down, Riza placed her hand on what she assumed to be unnecessarily long affidavits for her current project. They were becoming painfully arduous to read.

Instead, her palm fell upon a short piece of paper – a telegram. Well _that_ was unexpected. It read:

"SHE HAS RETURNED STOP"

Hawkeye's eyebrow's raised in shock.

Time to leave.

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/end – algerime

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**word count: **1448  
**placement: **Around / after episode 28 or something, basically, Ed didn't kill Greed  
**setting**: Central. Oh ho ho it's at the top! Ha ha.  
**pairings:** Manga canon, although it's anime based. El oh el.  
**rating:** Um... R. Mostly for cursing, as you can see.

**Author's note: **Okay… I've had the idea for this story in my head for about three years now, and as such my knowledge of the series, anime-wise, has declined a little bit. I actually had to look up some information, which my pride was very irritated by. I hope it makes sense… if not, I'm open to criticism. It's also been so long since I've published fan fiction that I almost forgot how. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things sometime. I promise it will all makes sense in time, Mustang's not just… like… conveniently grabbing Ed so that he can be in the story. Really. Also, the names for things will be explained too, unless someone already speaks german or latin in which case you already have an idea what the town is. Wahoo.

Anyway. Comments are love, and I hope to respond to each and every one of them. Come on, comments! You know you want too...


	3. 003 Patience

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**_Snow Falling in the Algid North_** – The Train  
[Day 003; Nine Thirty-Six AM]

**- PATIENCE -**

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Roy Mustang did not sit with them on the train. This was good; even in his silence sometimes Edward could barely hear himself think. The man had been particularly peculiar since this whole Drachma thing started, a fact that the alchemist decided against pondering. This was to his detriment.

Al on the other hand, had noticed the Colonel's odd behaviour - which, considering Al's perceptiveness, wasn't strange. However, considering the fact that the brothers hadn't seen more than two minutes worth of Mustang at a time since he asked them to journey north, Roy Mustang must have been in an appreciably frantic flurry of motion every moment he was around them.

He was. (And then some.)

Winry didn't really mind. She felt the train click and twitter and oscillate under her feet – when she wasn't swinging them – and soaked up the warmth from the window. She reveled in the thought that she was about to experience a whole new world of automail, and relished the fact that Edward couldn't stand the idea of her presence in the first place. He was just so funny when he was trying to be mad.

He sat next to her now, staring out the window in a brooding way. Al sat across from him, playing solitaire on the table between them. The train passed through a range of different scenery on it's way to Drachma: mountains, rivers, lakes and their beaches. Edward and Al had been on plenty of trains to far-away places, but for some reason this one just felt like it was taking so much longer than scheduled. Perhaps it was because they still knew so little about where they were going, and why. Not-knowing things was a far cry away from ideal for the searchers-of-truth that the brothers were.

"I knew we shouldn't have eaten there. I had a bad feeling about it." Ed interrupted the quiet with the jarring thought.

Alphonse put down his cards and sighed a rather elongated, aggravated sigh. He' d run out of reasonable responses to this the first five times Edward had said it.

"If we'd gone anywhere else, he would have found us anyway. Besides, you love their food."

"It's just so ridiculous, this whole thing." Ed said. Was he listening?

"Maybe a monster _ate_ Mustang, and now he's wearing him like a suit and asking us to do crazy things?" Al said sarcastically.

"Like we even have time to go all the way to Drachma…"

Well, Edward _clearly_ wasn't listening.

"We should get a cat. And if you don't object now, I'm taking it as a, 'Why yes Alphonse, I would love a furry feline friend.'"

"Don't even have snow-ready automail…"

"I think I'll name him Fluffy…" Al continued. This was kind of fun.

"That's why _I'm_ here." Winry interjected with an eager smile. 'Automail' had caught her attention. Edward looked at her, shocked, like he'd forgotten she was there. He had.

"Or Spunky…" (Al had now gotten lost in his own thoughts about his future cat.) Ed and Winry looked at each other, her smirking, him looking rather bewildered until he remembered what was going on. He was about to angrily object for the thousandth time to her accompaniment, but was cut short the second he opened his mouth.

"You all have _weird_ conversations." Edward and Winry looked up at none other than Jean Havoc, who was standing at the end of their booth. He took a carton of cigarettes from his pocket and bit one out with his teeth. While shoving the pack back in his trousers, he sat down next to the now daydreaming Al. "And mostly with yourselves, which is even creepier."

Edward and Winry were confused. "Um… Hi?" Ed said impolitely.

"I'm saying you guys are weird. But it's all good; I'd rather be here than with Mr. Crazy-pants up in front."

Edward turned his head to look at all the other empty booths in the car.

"You know… there are other seats…" He said, turning back. He hoped Havoc would take the hint.

He didn't. "I'm aware. But I'd like to stay with you. Gotta have something to talk to besides myself. There were some old ladies up front entertaining me for a bit, but I dropped a cigarette on one of them and they got all antsy and threw me out of their Bridge game."

"… Don't you usually… never light your cigarettes inside? Since you're quitting, and all?" Ed replied.

"Yeah, but it landed in her bra."

Awkward silence ensued between the three of them after said fact was presented.

"…Anyway. So…" Havoc didn't know where to start. He clasped his hands behind his head and pulled from his endless reserve of incomparable swagger and turned to the blonde who wasn't an alchemist. "How are you, little lady?" he said cheerfully, hoping to quell Ed's growing snarl by being polite to his mistress. Little did he know it would have the opposite effect.

"Um… I'm alright. How are you, sir?"

"Don't call him that, he's no sir." Ed added. Havoc stuck his tongue out at him. "See?" Ed said, rolling his eyes. The eight year old inside him was laughing a little, but he dared not show it.

"Come here often?" Havoc asked the blue-eyed babe. She chuckled a little. "On a train to Drachma? Um… no, not so much." she replied.

"Why are _you_ going?" Ed asked, now realising Havoc might have some sort of answers for him buried under all the whiny and pathetic efforts at flirtation with Winry.

Havoc sighed and dropped his hand, along with his playful demeanor. It was at this time the train hit a bump in the tracks, making the three of them jump up slightly and shaking one Mr. Alphonse Elric out of his kitty stupor. He shook his helmet, as if to sort out the nothing that was in it. "Oh." He said. "Hello Lieutenant Havoc."

"Good morning, Alphonse." He responded with something resembling melancholy. It seemed Ed's question hit a nerve. (Good, because Ed was losing patience with him as it was.)

"How come you're here, sir?" Al was always so courteous.

Havoc sighed again. "I'm following orders, and repaying an I.O.U. to a friend."

Alphonse didn't need to be told that Havoc was speaking of his travel to Drachma and not of his reasons for sitting in their boxcar. He sat silently, waiting for more. Ed would speak for both of them now.

"So you are on orders? Just from Mustang, or someone else?" Ed asked.

"… From Mustang, but he has the A-Okay from the higher-ups too, obviously." Havoc looked out the window. "I wouldn't be surprised if… he became the head of this whole operation though. He kind of already is."

"But what the hell _is_ this operation, anyway? And what does it have to do with me or Al?" Winry cleared her throat at Edward when he didn't mention her. "No, I'm not mentioning you, because you came here on your own. Don't give me that look." He added when her eyes turned to slits.

"You're lucky I forgot my wrenches in my luggage," was all she said before crossing her legs and arms. "Humph."

"…Anyway…" Havoc began. "Roy's taking this personally. Did you read the report?"

"Yeah, something about some crazy alchemist burning a whole town to the ground or something. Still don't see what that has to do with us."

"Well, you're alchemists. And Mustang's alchemy deals specifically with fire. He's one of few to have the control over it that he has."

"So? Any alchemist can create fire. He just does it _well_. We _don't._ So even if they wanted him to investigate this, it doesn't make sense that _we're_ here. "

"You _are_ Mustang's subordinates. And you're one of the most talented alchemists in the military, currently. If Alphonse was part of the military, he'd probably be in the same position. If alchemists in Drachma couldn't solve this, why wouldn't it make sense that they'd turn to you?"

"Because… because, it just doesn't. Because there are other people. Because this has nothing to do with our direction, and because we have nothing to do with Drachma."

Havoc looked back at the alchemist. "Yes and no. You're overlooking a lot here, Ed."

Edward leaned forward and propped his elbows up on the table, crossing them as he leaned forward. "What?" he said.

Jean Havoc stayed quiet for a few seconds before he spoke again. "_You_ two may not have anything to do with Drachma, but Roy does." When Ed kept listening, he decided to prowl on. "You're right, that there are other people. And really, since the Colonel is one of few to deal with fire so well, the fact that he was in Central at the time of the attack rules him out of a group of very little people to be suspect. So, you'd think that finding the person who committed such an atrocity would be easy, right? There aren't that many people to choose from, in the military or out, unless someone's been really fucking good at hiding their skills for a while. And really, it is kind of easy. And kind of obvious, too."

Ed narrowed his eyes at Havoc. "Go on."

"Okay, well, to start – haven't you noticed how insane Mustang's been acting lately?"

They took a minute to ponder his query. Al recalled seeing Mustang just two days ago, covered in sawdust and smelling like oil. His eyes were bloodshot and his hair was scruffy, as if he hadn't slept in days. Even Winry caught a glimpse of him before she joined up with Ed and Al, and he was muttering to himself, furiously scribbling on a pad of paper. He must have walked into four groups of people just going down the sidewalk alone, he was so absorbed in his thoughts.

"No." Ed said. He couldn't remember a damn thing, other than Mustang being as much of a loser as he always was.

"Well, you're an idiot." Ed's face got red. "I told you, Mustang's taking this personally."

"But why, Lieutenant?" Al asked.

"Well, I'm trying to tell Pip-" Havoc stopped himself. "…py Long-stocking and his dumbass braid here why, but he's not workin' with me."

Winry held back a laugh and tried to disguise it as a cough when Edward glowered at her. He really dodged a storm, there. She was sure Ed almost got called a pipsqueak, and he probably knew it too. (He was even redder than a few moments ago.)

"Because if you think that Roy just learned how to control fire all on his own, you're nuts. He had to learn _from_ someone. And since he's not the only one to control it, it's not too far-fetched to think that a certain _someone_ would have taught others just like him."

"So, they think Mustang's Sensei burned a random village down or something?" Ed asked. He was still annoyed. _What did this have to do with them?_

"Almost. The town that was annihilated used to be home to a student of Mustang's teacher. Someone he learned a bit with, once upon a time. The alchemist has been missing for years, though, taken for dead. That's another reason why this is all such a shock to him."

"Okay, I'll accept that. He has ties to whatever happened in Drachma and the guy who probably did it, so it makes sense that they'd want his testimony on the whole thing. But there's no relevance to why _we're_ part of it. It just sounds like Mustang wants to string us along."

"Patience, grasshopper. Patience. I'll tell you. You're right, he doesn't really need you in the investigation, although he thinks you might pick up on a few things others wont. The truth is, he wants you for dealing with the alchemist in question."

"…Why?"

Havoc drew a long breath in, then out. He re-clasped his hands, but this time, put them on the table. He twiddled his thumbs a bit, wondering how Ed would react. Oh well, had to face the music sometime. "She has some things in common with you…" he started.

"She?" Al said, surprised. It wasn't too often you heard of a female alchemist. Except… he caught eyes with his brother, and they shuddered at the thought. _Teacher did say she spent time in the mountains…_

"Yeah. She's a real pain in the ass, for one. She's blonde, and she's got a big mouth. And she's pretty bitchy to Roy. Used to call him 'Major Shit' when he was of lower rank."

"I like her already…" Ed said dryly, ignoring the first couple of remarks. "Anyway…" Jean continued. "She was spotted a couple of years ago, although the military couldn't follow up on the rumors what with Ishval and everything. Mustang always believed them, though."

"What were the rumors?" Winry asked. Even she was intrigued now.

"She can do alchemy without a transmutation circle. You know, like clapping her hands and shit. Saved a bunch of people in the war, then up and vanished." Ed's eyes went wide and his mind devoured him in thoughts and theories. "Roy said that's important. Like, _really_ important."

"It is." Ed and Al said together. It was.

"Yeah. Hawkeye and her used to be friends too, or so I gather. Truth is, Roy wanted you here, and he has the power and leverage to do so. He also said once you found out why, you'd want to stay." Havoc proceeded to pull a sandwich out of his pocket and unwrapped it from its plastic coating.

The trio was confused. Winry, Ed and Al all cocked their heads in bemusement. Havoc was a strange creature indeed. (Where the hell did that sandwich come from?)

There questioning glances were impeded upon by the train coming to a halt. They had been so absorbed in the conversation they hadn't even noticed it slow down. Whistles blew as steam erupted from the train, and people traded places on the platform. They were now in some sort of mining town – smoke entangled the mountains around them and a cacophony of drills, bells, and various other machines could be heard.

"Ahhh, Scaggsville." Havoc said longingly, getting up. He was still munching on his sandwich. "Lovely lovely Scaggsville. Best place in the world for lung disease and angry dispositions. Meh. Guess I better go back to my other car now, the others will wonder what I'm doing back here. And those grannies probably miss me by now." He took another bite. "Oh, an by the way, that sandwich place is great. Good thing Roy told me about it before we left."

_Damn you Jean Havoc._ Ed thought. _That was MY sandwich place…_

"Anyway. See ya! Oh, and on a second note, if Mustang asks, we never talked." He said, and walked off to rejoin his original party. Whistles blew one last time, and the train moved forward once more. As Al stared out the window at the faces passing by, he couldn't help but think that besides being a little ragged and old fashioned, the people just looked sad. What was it about these mining towns?

But he couldn't think about that. He and Ed had a lot to think about, and Winry had to at least do something to Ed's automail so he didn't freeze to death the second they got farther north. He listened to the train as it clicked and rocked back and forth on the tracks, wondering how to go about this whole thing, and how Ed would want to go about it, for that matter. Perhaps he'd start the conversation and save Al the trouble. He did look like he was on the verge of saying something…

"…Who the fuck carries a sandwich in their pants?" He muttered, returning to stare out the window.

Al decided to think on his own before diving into another serious conversation, for the time being.

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_**End**_

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YES, I finished. Sorry this chapter was so much dialogue! But I had to explain things a bit. It will all make sense, I promise…


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